briefs

There’s a lot less “Lance” in Lancair‘s kit division. Founder Lance Niebauer has sold the kit maker to a New Orleans attorney for an undisclosed amount. Niebauer said in a statement that the new company owner, Joseph C. Bartels, has promised to carry on business as usual. Niebauer said the sale keeps his dream alive […]

Well, now we’ve done it … The U.S. Customs Service has begun patrolling the restricted airspace around Washington, D.C., in the specially-equipped Citations and Black Hawk helicopters normally used to track down drug runners and smugglers on the border. The first such patrols were to enforce the 30-nm TFR around the Capitol last Tuesday during […]

Equipment problems are being cited in two high-profile aircraft accidents in the past month. Investigators in Denver say the transponder wasn’t working or was shut off in a Piper Cheyenne that collided with a Cessna 172 there last week. Therefore, air traffic controllers, who were providing flight following to both aircraft, could not see the […]

Ultralight pilots may have a more direct route to a sport pilot license through the three national organizations that already conduct ultralight flight training. FAA sport pilot team leader Sue Gardner said ultralight pilots registered with EAA, Aero Sports Connection or the United States Ultralight Association will go through a simple process to get the […]

Former FAA official Michael J. Dreikorn will head up a panel, which Lycoming says is part of its overall plan to address “component reliability issues” like the faulty crankshafts that led to the recall of more than 1,200 turbocharged, 300-plus horsepower engines last year. The Independent Advisory Panel will keep an eye on “safety, quality […]

Belt-tightening continues at Bombardier, but company officials are denying rumors that the company is abandoning the business jet market. “Nothing could be further from the truth,” said spokesman John Paul Macdonald. He said that kind of rumor has been circulating among jittery employees since the company announced two temporary plant closures and more than 2,000 […]

Just in case you don’t already have one in your garage — right next to your household robot and your raygun collection — you can log on to eBay this Friday and partake in a bidding war for the prototype Moller Skycar. It may be worth pointing out that you need to be a certified […]

A proposed Airworthiness Directive would apply to various New Piper PA-23 models, and would require repetitive inspections of the flap control torque tube. The proposal stems from several reports of damage found in the torque tube, which could result in failure of the flap operating system. A proposed AD for Raytheon Beech models with V-tails […]

A few years ago, when airlines were booming, lots of underused regional airports were eyed as potential reliever hubs. Now, with air travel in a perpetual slump, some savvy planners are looking to cargo as the wave of the future for jobs and development. Regional airports in Southern California, which unlike LAX or SFO have […]

Okay, see if you can follow this one: In 1999, Robert Mueller Municipal Airport in Austin, Texas, was closed down, theoretically in favor of using all that airport space for development. But oddly enough, it turns out the airport provided space for lots of pilots and their airplanes, who now had no place to go. […]